The Orchidaceae or orchid have about 28,000 currently accepted species, distributed in about 763 genera.
Ecuador has 3459 species, the greatest number recorded.
The Victorians had a name for orchid mania-Orchidelirium-and they sailed uncharted seas to bring home new species.
Although generally thought of as a tropical plant, orchids grow worldwide. The only places on earth orchids don't grow are Antarctica and the Gobi Desert.
Britain's rarest flower is the lady's slipper orchid: a single specimen grows on a Lancashire golf course under police surveillance.
Orchids have the tiniest seeds in the world. There can be up to three million seeds in a single orchid seedpod. You'll never see them though; they are the size of a speck of dust and are only visible under a microscope.
The plant's first flowers won't appear until roughly five to seven years after germination. This makes them a challenge to grow and cultivate as it takes a lot of patience as you wait for them to sprout and actually turn into a plant.
Orchids have developed highly specialized pollination systems. For example, the Lady's Slipper can trap insects and make them pollinate the flower.
Another instance is an underground orchid in Australia, Rhizanthella slateri, which is never exposed to light, and depends on ants and other terrestrial insects to pollinate it.
The scent of the blunt-leaved orchid is chemically similar to human body odor, a trick the plant uses to attract mosquitoes for pollination.
The complex cross-pollination mechanisms were described by Charles Darwin in his 1862 book The Fertilisation of Orchids.
Ecuador has 3459 species, the greatest number recorded.
The Victorians had a name for orchid mania-Orchidelirium-and they sailed uncharted seas to bring home new species.
Although generally thought of as a tropical plant, orchids grow worldwide. The only places on earth orchids don't grow are Antarctica and the Gobi Desert.
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| High resolution image of orchid |
Britain's rarest flower is the lady's slipper orchid: a single specimen grows on a Lancashire golf course under police surveillance.
Orchids have the tiniest seeds in the world. There can be up to three million seeds in a single orchid seedpod. You'll never see them though; they are the size of a speck of dust and are only visible under a microscope.
The plant's first flowers won't appear until roughly five to seven years after germination. This makes them a challenge to grow and cultivate as it takes a lot of patience as you wait for them to sprout and actually turn into a plant.
Orchids have developed highly specialized pollination systems. For example, the Lady's Slipper can trap insects and make them pollinate the flower.
Another instance is an underground orchid in Australia, Rhizanthella slateri, which is never exposed to light, and depends on ants and other terrestrial insects to pollinate it.
The scent of the blunt-leaved orchid is chemically similar to human body odor, a trick the plant uses to attract mosquitoes for pollination.
The complex cross-pollination mechanisms were described by Charles Darwin in his 1862 book The Fertilisation of Orchids.
Between 1,000 to 4,000 orchid plants are used to make a single kilogram of salep, a popular drink in Turkey that is like a cross between hot chocolate and rice pudding.
Vanilla is produced from a species of orchid, it's the only fruit bearing orchid in the world.
Source JamaicaObserver
Vanilla is produced from a species of orchid, it's the only fruit bearing orchid in the world.
Source JamaicaObserver
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